CineMontage

Winter 2015

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11 WINTER 2015 / CINEMONTAGE by Stephanie Brown and John Vitale P erhaps you have heard a colleague say — or even said yourself — "I pay my dues each quarter, but the union has never done anything for me." There is some truth to such an assertion; the union doesn't, in fact, do anything for you. The union isn't an outside third party, some vendor providing you with services in exchange for a fee. Our union is what we do when we stand together to accomplish things. We are the union, and, as a union, we do a lot. Take some time to learn about what our union does, to make sure you're fully taking advantage of all the opportunities we make for ourselves, and also to discover how you can fully participate in the work of our union. Together, we can help make our union stronger, so that we can do more for ourselves, and do it better. REPRESENTATION IN THE WORKPLACE Our union's chief mission is of course to represent and protect members in our various workplaces. This is based upon the core principle of collective bargaining — the idea that we have more clout in our relationships to our employers when we deal with management as a unified group, rather than as isolated individuals. Union jobs are, in general, better jobs than comparable non-union positions. The Editors Guild staff in Los Angeles and New York work full time to negotiate and enforce agreements with a wide range of signatory employers. Although the staff is made up of talented individuals with experience and expertise in dealing with employers, its effectiveness comes chiefly when the membership stands unified. Guild field representatives have a lot of successful experience addressing issues that individual members might have with their employers in regards to pay, working conditions or any other contractual terms of employment. They visit workplaces in the field to connect with as many members as possible. If you have any questions about terms of employment at a signatory employer, you should reach out to a field rep. Our organizers assist post-production employees at non-union workplaces to win union contracts. We are in a stronger position to uphold standards of employment when more of the work in the industry is done union. So, whenever you are employed on a non-union job, you should have a quiet conversation with one of our organizers to explore the possibility of making it a union workplace. Following are other services our Guild provides. TRAINING The Guild offers various avenues of training for members. First, there is the training series that our Training Committee coordinates. These classes cover various topics relating to post-production workflow and are taught by current members proficient in their field; members training members. The series is a combination of seminars and full-day hands-on training. If you're interested, be sure to check e-mails from the Guild announcing training events as well as the Guild's website. If you have a topic you'd like presented or would like to conduct a seminar yourself, contact nationaltraining@editorsguild.com. Second, do you need more one-on-one assistance? The Los Angeles Editors Guild Training Suites have individual stations — available to members by signing up via the website — to practice on various industry software. Dieter Rozek, our Training Coordinator, is dedicated to assisting members in this environment. Visit www.editorsguild.com/training.cfm for more information. Third, you can train from home on www.lynda. com. E-mail Serena Kung, our Director of Membership Services, at skung@editorsguild.com to request access to the online training library through the Guild account. And finally, CSATF — Contract Services — provides active, rostered members a subsidy of two-thirds of the cost for specific pre-approved training classes. The application and a list of the classes can be found at http://csatf.org/pdf/700vendorprovided.pdf. For more information on all training benefits, visit www. editorsguild.com/trainingeducationseminars.cfm. SCREENINGS AND SOCIAL EVENTS Free movie screenings are one of the more popular perks of being a Guild member. You and a guest can enjoy a screening in state-of-the-art facilities and take MEMBERSHIP OUTREACH What Does the Union Do for You? Logger Katie Jorgenson, right, claims her raffle gift, an AMC Theatres gift card, from Guild staffer Meleney Humphrey at the Guild's "Post" Holiday Mixer, held at Busby's East in Los Angeles. Photo by Deverill Weekes

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